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kristenm2954116
kristenm2954116
Participant
January 17, 2019
Answered

%26 breaking URL in Captivate

  • January 17, 2019
  • 1 reply
  • 547 views

I have a click box opening a new window to a URL containing "Finance_%26_Accounting".  When I publish it out, Captivate switches the "%" to "%2526" which breaks the link.  I've seen other solutions with a similar issue where the %20 is changed to an actual space within the URL.  However, when I change the %26 to "Finance_&_Accounting" the link still does not work.  Has anyone had any experience with this?  How can I fix it?  I don't have control of the link to remove the ampersand...

Thanks!

    This topic has been closed for replies.
    Correct answer RodWard

    I think the issue with the link is that an ampersand in a URL is normally used as an component of the URL that immediately precedes the name of a variable.  Ampersands are also used in JavaScript and other web-based programming code.  So including them in a URL where it's not expected can break things.

    That being said, I do agree that it would be nice if Captivate didn't arbitrarily change the format of the link at publish and break it.  I suggest you log this as a bug with the Captivate development team here: Adobe Captivate

    In the meantime (don't hold your breath for a quick resolution in Captivate itself) I would suggest you try using TinyURL or some other similar service that will create an alias link you can put into Captivate that doesn't get changed.

    TinyURL.com - shorten that long URL into a tiny URL

    1 reply

    C
    CUeld-Sprouse
    Participant
    January 17, 2019

    I don't know if either of these will work but you may want to try the ascii code "&" or HTML name string "&"  to replace the ampersand.  As I am sure you know, this is one reason it is a very bad practice to include special characters in folder, file or URL naming.

    kristenm2954116
    kristenm2954116Author
    Participant
    January 18, 2019

    Thanks for the attempt, but neither worked.  I am a big proponent of not putting symbols in URLs or files, but this link is hosted by a different team.

    RodWard
    Community Expert
    RodWardCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
    Community Expert
    January 18, 2019

    I think the issue with the link is that an ampersand in a URL is normally used as an component of the URL that immediately precedes the name of a variable.  Ampersands are also used in JavaScript and other web-based programming code.  So including them in a URL where it's not expected can break things.

    That being said, I do agree that it would be nice if Captivate didn't arbitrarily change the format of the link at publish and break it.  I suggest you log this as a bug with the Captivate development team here: Adobe Captivate

    In the meantime (don't hold your breath for a quick resolution in Captivate itself) I would suggest you try using TinyURL or some other similar service that will create an alias link you can put into Captivate that doesn't get changed.

    TinyURL.com - shorten that long URL into a tiny URL

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